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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26137003">Bad Beasts and Where to Find Them</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/McAwesome/pseuds/McAwesome'>McAwesome</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>3700 Years but We're Still Human [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Baby Chrome has a wild imagination, Canon Compliant, Chrome character study, Chrome's Parents, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, More than just the obvious, Senkuu fixes a lot of stuff when he shows up, Sickness, Starvation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 10:14:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,792</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26137003</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/McAwesome/pseuds/McAwesome</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Chrome makes a friend, becomes a sorcerer, learns to write, and realizes that he's not quite as alone as he originally thought.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chrome &amp; Ishigami Senkuu, Chrome &amp; Kohaku (Dr. STONE), Chrome &amp; Ruri (Dr. STONE)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>3700 Years but We're Still Human [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1897990</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Bad Beasts and Where to Find Them</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chrome’s first memory was in some undefinable age in some undefinable place. He sat under a table as his parents talked, not quite sure why he was there, but nervous that he would get caught.</p><p>His second memory is also at an undefinable age—he remembers being so excited to jump into the river that he forgot to take his pants off first. All the other kids giggled at him. He remembers a kind voice, probably his mother, comforting him. “He’s just excited,” she said. Or maybe “He’s just a kid,” or a joking “He just couldn’t wait!” Chrome couldn’t remember. It wasn’t definable, but the emotion—the excitement, the love, the embarrassment, the shame—those are what he can recall.</p><p>His third memory is Ruri. Not necessarily a moment of time, but the impression of Ruri’s face, in a field of flowers, in a hut, walking along the river bank, running together, laughing.  </p><p>Ruri has always been there, preceded by very little, always Chrome’s friend, always someone that he felt close to.</p><p>It wasn’t until later that he began to realize Ruri was different. She didn’t come with Chrome to learn to gather and hunt. Instead she sat in the biggest hut of the village and listened to the priestess talk. The significance hit Chrome later—she was the village chief’s daughter. The biggest hut belonged to her. The woman that talked to Ruri was the village priestess.</p><p>All he wanted was to see his friend.</p><p>“Opal,” the guard called. Before Chrome knew it, his mother was grabbing his arm and dragging him away.</p><p>“I wanted to see Ruri,” said Chrome.</p><p>“She’s training to be the priestess. You can’t just go and see her.”</p><p>“What’s a priestess? Why can’t I see her?”</p><p>“The priestess is the most important person in the village. She is responsible for holding the Hundred Tales. You can’t just go walk up and talk to her while she’s studying.”</p><p>It was then that Chrome realized that maybe they weren’t the same. Maybe there was a rift that he had always been blind to.</p><p>…</p><p>It’s not all the time. Ruri was just the priestess-in-training. There were days when Ruri came to him—gave him a little smile. They would run out into the fields and pick flowers together, draw pictures, swim in the stream, play pretend games where Chrome is a great hunter and Ruri is his pet phoenix-gorilla, and they go beat all of the biggest beasts in the world.</p><p>They came up with phoenix-gorillas together—Ruri told him stories about phoenixes and gorillas from her priestess training, but it was Chrome’s idea to combine the two. And honestly, Chrome got a little jealous when Ruri would get to be the really cool things like phoenix-gorillas, so he would compromise and say that he was a great hunter who could turn into a lion-hydra, and Ruri could turn into a lion-hydra in her second form if she really wanted to.</p><p>“Oh, so you’re like a sorcerer,” Ruri said, when he described his power set to her.</p><p>“What’s a sorce-rer?” asked Chrome.</p><p>“I learned about it from the Hundred Tales,” said Ruri. She quickly arranged their meal of berries on the leaves in front of them—both lion-hydras and phoenix-gorillas loved berries. “Sorcerers are powerful people who can use magic. Transforming from a hunter into a lion-hydra seems like something that a sorcerer would do, right?”</p><p>“Hmmm… I mean, I guess.” Chrome put a thoughtful finger to his chin. “If sorce-rers are in the Hundred Tales, then are they real? Or is it just for pretend?”</p><p>“I think they’re real,” said Ruri. “There’s a lot of weird stuff that mom teaches me about in the Hundred Tales. If that stuff is real, then sorcerers might be real, too, right? And they can do some amazing things. Much more amazing than normal hunters. They use the power of nature for people’s bene-feet.”</p><p>That was all Chrome needed to hear. He pumped his fist into the air. “Right, I’m a sorcerer then! And my nature powers are that I can turn into a lion-hydra!”</p><p>“And I’m your trusty shape-shifting phoenix-gorilla companion,” said Ruri, with an accompanying fist pump.</p><p>“Yeah!” Chrome said. They grinned at each other and continued on with their game.</p><p>…</p><p>It was all golden tinted. Days ran into each other, games on games, studying and fishing and hunting practice followed by more games. There were lots of things that Chrome didn’t like, like when the other villagers tried to make him not see Ruri, but it wasn’t always. Most of the time, he had a friend and he had fun games that they played together, and that’s all he really needed.</p><p>…</p><p>The village started to get ready for winter. Even the kids like Chrome were sent to collect supplies. As always, Chrome and Ruri turned it into a game: who could collect the most mushrooms and fruit first?</p><p>They started from the tree line on the edge of the village.</p><p>“Three, two, one, go!” shouted Chrome. They both shot like bullets into the forest, running to all of the best-known mushroom spots. Chrome collected everything he could get his hands on. Grass and over-season berries that animals liked to eat, worms for fishing, and mushrooms for their own eating. As always, if he ever saw a cool rock on his way through the underbrush, he would pick it up.</p><p>But as he dug through a particularly wet patch of dirt (which the worms always liked), Chrome found a massive worm. It was so crazy cool, Chrome could hardly contain his excitement.</p><p>“Ruri! Ruri!”</p><p>Ruri came scuttling over from where she had been. They never got too far away from each other. “What is it?”</p><p>“Look it this bad worm! It’s huge!”</p><p>Ruri tilted her head. “It’s bad?”</p><p>“Yeah, super bad! It’s almost as long as my arm!”</p><p>“What do you mean it’s bad, though? Just that it’s big?”</p><p>Chrome deflated a little bit. “I thought bad just meant that it was crazy amazing?”</p><p>“I mean, it means that something is crazy amazing, but in a negative way.” Ruri tensed when Chrome’s face scrunched up, embarrassed.</p><p>“Oh,” he said. “I guess I was using it wrong.”</p><p>“No!” Ruri almost rushed to say.</p><p>Chrome looked up in surprise. Ruri seemed almost lost for words for a moment before she amended, “I mean, it’s fine if you use it that way. I think words really mean whatever you want them to mean, you know? Just like we make up gorilla-hydras, you can say bad for whatever you want to use it for.” She paused, and then a big smile stretched across her face.</p><p>“In fact, I think I like your version better,” she continued. “It’s nicer. Cooler. Even—” she put an embarrassed hand to her face as her nose scrunched above her smile, “—badder?”</p><p>Chrome felt his own face start to mimic her. “Yeah,” he agreed, chest light, “super badder.”</p><p>…</p><p>As time passed, Chrome began to understand that some things came naturally to him that didn’t come naturally to the other villagers. Numbers, for one. The other kids always had trouble with what numbers are what—but it was easy for Chrome. It was just logic, after all.</p><p>By the same credit, there are so many things that come naturally to others that Chrome just can’t seem to get himself.</p><p>Hunting is one of them. When his father first helped Chrome set a trap for wildlife, Chrome captured an animal—and then accidentally set it free. His father was not happy.</p><p>He tried to learn to stalk prey, but he couldn’t keep still for long enough to make it be effective. He’d feel jittery. His limbs would twitch. His mind would wander. He’d find himself messing with the leaves on the bush or drawing in the dirt or ripping up the grass. No matter how hard he tried, he’d eventually make a sound and tip the animal off.</p><p>When he was tested to be a guard, he utterly failed all of the fighting tests. It shouldn’t be that hard, right? But it was. And the third time the sparring stick was whapped out of his hand with nary a struggle, Chrome could feel all the judging eyes of the village on him. He was scolded by several towering figures—so flustered he was that he couldn’t even put names to the voices.</p><p>He had felt it with the lost deer, he had felt it with stalking practice when he had scared another deer away, and he felt it now. His chest tightened; shame curled in his gut.</p><p>“But you figured out that other stuff, right?” he told himself. “Hold onto it. You’re not useless.” His fists clenched and he gritted his teeth. “You’re not useless.”</p><p>
  <strong>…</strong>
</p><p>“We didn’t prepare early enough,” Chrome heard Mama say one day after he returned from playing with Ruri. “The cold hit too quickly.”</p><p>Chrome moved into the corner of their hut and sorted through his findings for the day. Some leaves, some flower bundles, some nuts—all food for armed-dillo monsters, like he had been earlier today in their game. He pulled out a couple of cool, gravelly rocks, too. He decided that they were the kind armed-dillo monsters collected. Ruri said that a lot of rocks were in the Hundred Tales, so maybe the gods thought rocks were as cool as armed-dillo monsters thought they were.</p><p>He popped one of the nuts in his mouth and thought about where they should go exploring next. Maybe not too far from the village—it had been pretty cold today, he privately thought. Much colder than normal, but maybe they could build a fire near the village and dance around it like premium-monkey monsters. (Ruri had told him earlier that “premium” meant “the best,” and they would be the best monkeys, so it only made sense.)</p><p>In the background of Chrome’s running brain, he vaguely registered that his parents were still talking. It wasn’t until he heard a sharp “Chrome!” that he looked up and actually listened.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>Dad said, “Come fishing with me tomorrow.”</p><p>“What?” Chrome stood up, upset. “But Ruri and I are going to play tomorrow!”</p><p>“You played today,” said Mama. “It’s time to work.”</p><p>“But why?”</p><p>“Because we’re asking you to! You need to do your part for the village!” said Mama.</p><p>“Chrome, we need to fish as much as we can before the lake freezes over,” said Dad. He was always more willing to explain things to Chrome than anyone else was besides maybe Ruri. “It’s important that we get enough food for winter.”</p><p>“But we never even eat meat in winter,” said Chrome. “Why do we need to fish?”</p><p>“The more food we can get now,” said Dad, “the more of our other food we can preserve for winter. So we need to get all the meat we can.”</p><p>“Fine,” said Chrome, practically spitting out the word, “but just because <em>you</em> asked, dad, I’ll do it as a favor. Armed-dillo monsters don’t normally do something as low and moon-dane as <em>fishing</em>.”</p><p>Mama threw out an exaggerated sigh.</p><p>“I appreciate that, son,” said Dad. He turned to Mama. “At least he’s willing to help.”</p><p>“He could stand to have a little less attitude,” said Mama.</p><p>Sounded like normal Mama complaints. Chrome ignored Dad’s hand on his head and went to sort his rocks.</p><p>…</p><p>Soft rocks, hard rocks, colorful rocks, gray rocks.</p><p>As he studied the rocks, he thought about Ruri’s stories—fire, she talked about fire a lot when she talked about sorcery. Maybe he should try that sometime—putting rocks in a fire. If fire was the basis of sorcery, then he bet it could do all sorts of bad stuff.</p><p>His heartrate picked up, jitters coming back into his limbs. He couldn’t wait to try it out.</p><p>…</p><p>This was the most boring fishing trip ever. They had been out here for ours, and they had yet to catch even one fish! It had never been this bad, from what Chrome remembered.</p><p>And it’s not like he was the only one upset by this. Dad, too, had a much gloomier look on his face than he normally did.</p><p>Chrome tapped his hands on the side of the boat with anticipation, as he had been for the last while. He could not wait to be done with this. But it was only when Dad turned to him with such a serious and sad expression and says, “let’s head back” that Chrome starts to reconsider his desire to leave the lake. He didn’t want Dad to be upset, after all.</p><p>As they started rowing back, Chrome couldn’t help but think—was it the failure of their fishing trip that made Dad so sad? Was it Chrome himself? Or maybe it just was the cold weather. Dad always did get colder a lot faster than other people in the village, and it had felt especially cold in the lake.</p><p>They rowed in relative silence, but once they reached the shore, Dad said to the village chief, “There’s no fish.” Chrome realized with a start that it wasn’t only his dad that wore that dark expression—it was all of the adults. What was happening? They could always catch fish later, right? So why did this matter?</p><p>…</p><p>It mattered. It mattered so badly.</p><p>…</p><p>Dad had always gotten cold easily, and now that it was winter, he couldn’t even get out of bed. Mama still moved around, but she was slower than usual and let Chrome get away with more. Chrome supposed he should be worried, but he honestly enjoyed the freedom. The previous months had almost been feverish with work—everyone ran around but no one managed to get much done. Now he finally had time to himself—not that there was much he could do with it.</p><p>Chrome went exploring as often as he could, but Ruri couldn’t come out with him a lot these days—she was finishing her training, since the priestess had fallen ill. It was cold enough outside that often it was just better to stay in.  Oftentimes he would eat his meals for the day and then go and sort through his rock collection.</p><p>In his open time—when he was done eating, adventuring, and sorting, he’d tell Dad some of his gorilla-cyclops adventures, since Dad couldn’t do much else but lie in bed all day.</p><p>“The cyclops,” said Chrome, “is a three-eyed beast. One eye on his head, and one eye on each hand.”</p><p>Dad regarded his with half-closed eyes. “Is that right?” he whispered.</p><p>“Yeah! And a gorilla cyclops has four hands, since its feet are hands, so it has five eyes!”</p><p>“Does that mean it walks on its eyes?” said Dad.</p><p>“I guess. But it doesn’t hurt it at all. It just means it can look in every direction at once. You can’t sneak up on it.”</p><p>“Huh,” said Dad, the sound more a puff of air than anything else. His eyes were all the way closed, but they slowly opened again. “How would you capture something like that?”</p><p>“I’m glad you asked!” said Chrome. “You’d need to get it with something it couldn’t see! Something hidden, like a trap. A pitfall trap! Then it couldn’t get out, no matter how good its vision is!”</p><p>“Huh,” said Dad, which seemed a little underwhelming of a reaction in Chrome’s mind.</p><p>“Chrome,” said Mama. Chrome turned to see her in the entrance of their hut. “Why don’t you let him rest?”</p><p>Chrome glanced back at Dad. He was smiling, and he took Chrome’s hand and squeezed it.</p><p>“I love you. Your stories are very interesting,” said Dad.</p><p>Chrome beamed back at him.</p><p>Dad continued, “I’m going rest now, okay?”</p><p>“Okay!” said Chrome. “I’ll tell you more later. I’m going to see if Ruri is available.”</p><p>He started marching out, but Mama stopped him at the entrance.</p><p>“Chrome,” she said. Her tone was different than normal.</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>There was a moment when Mama just looked at him. Her brown eyes—Chrome had gotten his from her, he knew—held him. She looked lovingly, but also longingly, like she would never see him again. Something in Chrome clenched at the thought, and he took the opportunity to really look at his mother, and she looked—bad. Actually bad. Haggard. Rough. There were sacks under her eyes, and her clothing was looser than it ever had been before.</p><p>How had he not noticed? When had she started looking so bad? <em>How</em> had she started looking so bad?</p><p>The moment passed and she stepped forward. A soft hand came onto Chrome’s cheek, and his mother pulled him against her.</p><p>“I love you, Chrome. I love you so much. All I want is for you to be alive and happy.”</p><p>Chrome breathed in the scent of Mama’s tunic. “I love you, too,” he said.</p><p>Her breath hitched, once, twice. “You are so good,” she said. He felt her place a kiss to his head. “Never lose that, okay? Never lose the love you have. You are the future, okay? You are our future.”</p><p>Chrome nodded, a bit confused. “Mama?”</p><p>Mama pulled back from him and gave him a smile. Chrome could see now that his mother had been crying, which was as surprising as it was distressing.</p><p>She patted his shoulder. “I’m going to go lie down for a while, okay? Maybe I’ll take a nap with your father.”</p><p>Chrome nodded, mutely. He continued out of the hut, feeling more somber than before. Things felt off, but he didn’t know what to do about it. He didn’t know if there was anything he even could do. So Chrome did nothing.  </p><p>…</p><p>A week later, Dad died in his sleep. Mama followed nearly a month after. Chrome hadn’t seen it coming. Chrome hadn’t seen it coming. He hadn’t seen anything, but he should have. He cursed his own blindness. He cursed his own inaction.</p><p> Was this what it felt like? To walk into a pitfall trap?</p><p>…</p><p>It was only after he had visited both of his parents’ graves that he found out the truth—each family in the village had gotten a ration of food every day. Exactly what Chrome had been eating—meaning his parents had given him all of their food.</p><p>He had eaten all of their food. They had starved to death, and they had done it so he would live.</p><p>…</p><p>The winter was cold and the fish was scarce. Chrome sat in his hut, alone, by the fire. The village fisherman would come by and give him his rations. Less than before—one person needs to eat less than three. The fisherman didn’t mince words—from what Chrome could remember, he always nagged him less than the other adults in the village. Still, the man got in the habit of patting Chrome on the head as he came by.</p><p>Chrome didn’t really care about the head pats. Honestly, he didn’t really care about a lot of things, anymore.</p><p>The winter was cold, and Chrome was numb. The village kept losing people—seven now dead because of sickness or malnutrition. Many more sick with no sign of getting better. But still, time kept moving forward, and the days grew warmer. Warm blades of green broke through cold soil. Life kept living, no matter who was no longer there to live with it.</p><p>…</p><p> “Are you doing okay, Chrome? You haven’t gotten sick, have you?”</p><p>Chrome shook his head. He watched from the side of the riverbank as Ruri made her way next to him, and gently set herself down. She gave a little cough into her elbow.</p><p>A few beats of silence. Chrome didn’t feel inclined to fill it.</p><p>“Why are you out here, all on your own?” she asked.</p><p>More beats of silence.</p><p>“The priestess is really sick,” Chrome finally said.</p><p>From the side, Chrome could see her gaze shift from him to the river.</p><p>“Yes. she likely won’t have much time left. But, it’s okay! I’ve trained for this. I’m ready to take her place.”</p><p>Something in Chrome’s chest tightened. “No, it isn’t okay.”</p><p>There was a pause. Ruri’s voice was hollow. “No, I suppose it isn’t.”</p><p>Water rippled down the way, swirling in little currents of clear and foamy white.</p><p>“I’ll miss her,” Ruri, admitted.</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“I knew it was bad, when you lost your parents. I guess I just didn’t realize how bad it really was.”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>Water kept swirling, foam kept frothing. Chrome wished he could hold the currents in his palm, but he knew they would just dissolve if he tried. An ugly metaphor for life. </p><p>“Chrome, I’m sorry.”</p><p>“What are you even apologizing for?”</p><p>“I don’t. I don’t really know. I just feel like I should.”</p><p>Chrome kicked his feet and thought about dipping his toes in the river.</p><p>“I just wish,” Ruri said, “that I knew what was wrong. I want to help.”</p><p>Chrome let out a humorless laugh. “The priestess is dying and you’re out here worrying about me?” The pain in his chest got worse. It felt like love. It felt like loss. “You’re too much, Ruri.”</p><p>“Then tell me what’s wrong so I don’t have to worry about it anymore.”</p><p>Chrome nudged a rock with his foot. “It’s dumb.”</p><p>“Please, Chrome. Talk to me.”</p><p>“I mean, my parents are dead, and soon your mom will be too.”</p><p>“But that’s not all of it, right? That’s not why you’re out here. Please?”</p><p>Chrome sat silently, but withholding his feelings on anything has never been a strength, and he could never deny Ruri anything. The words started tumbling out of his mouth before he had much say in the matter at all.</p><p>“You’re going to be the priestess, now, right? We won’t be able to see each other anymore. You’re the most important person in the village, and I’m just a nobody. They’ll never let me anywhere near you, because of the tales saying human proximity gets people sick, and sick people even sicker, and then—” Chrome cut himself off. “You’re the last person I have, Ruri, and I won’t even really <em>have</em> you anymore, and—” He stopped again.</p><p>Ruri watched him, before nodding. “I see. I really don’t have to worry, then, if that’s what you’re upset about.”</p><p>Chrome whipped his head to look at her, aghast. That hurt more than he expected. Of all of her reactions, for her to say <em>that</em>—but this was Ruri. She didn’t have a cruel bone in her body.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Chrome. You’re thinking way too hard about this. It’s never going to be like you’re describing. It’s not that complicated.”</p><p>“What do you mean, it’s not that complicated? We—"</p><p> “We’re friends, right?”</p><p>Chrome jerked forward. “Of course we are!”</p><p>“That means, no matter what, we’re equals. Even if I’m the priestess and you’re the village nobody, neither of us will be better or worse than the other. I promise I will never leave you behind.” The smile on her face turned soft, sweet. “You would do the same for me, right? You would never leave me behind. Nothing else really matters.”</p><p>As she spoke, Chrome finally turned to fully face her. Ruri’s face was flushed, she had bags under her eyes, snot tried to make its way down her face until it was held back with a sniff, but—Chrome could swear he’s never seen anyone more beautiful in his entire life.</p><p>He could feel wet start to drip down his face. Ruri held out her arms. With a small sound escaping the back of his throat, he fell into them.</p><p>Maybe it really was just that simple.</p><p>…</p><p>When the priestess died, the whole village mourned. A bonfire was set in the center of town for a week to guide her spirit home. And while fire was meant for the priestess, she was not the only one the villagers prayed for.</p><p>Kinro and Ginro came in shifts to sit next to the bonfire. Kinro was as stoic as always, but Ginro sat with a hollow look as he watched.</p><p>Magma would feed the fire, toss something in, and then leave. He never stayed for long, and whenever he was there, he was angry.</p><p>Ruri only came to the fire once. She was coughing and wheezing slightly as she stood at the flames edge to throw in an offering. She looked worse than when Chrome had seen her next to the river—even through the small smile and wave that she sent him. Of course, the priestess’s passing wouldn’t have helped, Chrome thought to himself. And his thoughts were confirmed when Jasper addressed him, personally. It was only when Chrome realized that he had drifted closer to Ruri that he understood why.</p><p>“She’s just upset over her mother’s passing.” Jasper said. “There’s no need to fear for her, but remember—she’s the priestess now, so you must stay away from her.”</p><p>Chrome nodded, studying Ruri’s retreating form as, offering done, she was escorted back to her hut. But then, that was wrong—of course her mother’s passing would upset Ruri, Chrome already knew that, but that wasn’t the cause of the coughing.</p><p>After all, Chrome had lost both of his parents, and he hadn’t coughed once.</p><p>Chrome turned and took his seat back by the fire, legs drawn up to his chest.</p><p>So, yeah, Jasper was probably just trying to get him to go away. But that meant that Ruri—she wasn’t really healthy—and what if—what if—</p><p>Sicknesses killed so many people already in their village. Chrome didn’t really know how sickness worked, but he figured that sickness was a big factor in his parents’ death. They were starving, sure, but Chrome wonders if that just made them weaker. Made the sickness have an easier time killing them, or something.</p><p>But Ruri wasn’t even starving, right? But she was sick anyway. So whatever sickness she had must be really, really—bad. And if it was bad, then how was anyone at their village supposed to help? Would the only option really be to just sit back and watch Ruri whither…?</p><p>The thought was too hard. Too heavy. Chrome’s eyes started watering with how hard he had been staring at the fire. He was just—so—so sick of being left behind. And Ruri, even though she said herself that she wouldn’t—it’s not like she would have much choice if her breathing got bad enough that she just <em>couldn’t</em> anymore, and—and—Chrome didn’t know what he would do in that scenario.</p><p>But then his thoughts turned towards Jasper and his words. What was he trying to do? Get Chrome to go away? Or was he just trying to protect Chrome from the truth of Ruri’s condition? That thought grated and grinded against Chrome’s skull. If there was anything he was <em>sick</em> of, it was adults deciding that he needed to be “protected.”</p><p>(As if turning a sure tragedy from an expected outcome to a <em>fun surprise</em> “protected” anyone.)</p><p>(Maybe if his parents had “protected” him less, they would have eaten more food, and they all could have survived. He had been fat, compared to them. Glutted himself on their “protection” until they were skin and bones and dead.)</p><p>(And now Ruri could become skin and bones and dead, and really, is there nothing Chrome could do?)</p><p>Chrome scrubbed his face hard with his hands. He dug his fingernails into his scalp as trails of wet streaked down his face.</p><p>What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to <em>do</em>?</p><p>…</p><p>Some time later, as Chrome sat in his hut with his rocks and <em>thought</em>, his mind wandered to the old games he and Ruri would play. Specifically, his thoughts wandered to the word “sorcerer.”</p><p>The Hundred Tales—they talked about plant poisons, right? And if plants could poison, then they might also cure. You just had to find the right plant for the job, just like different types of tools could carve wood in different ways.</p><p>And what had Ruri said about sorcerers? That they used the power of nature to do amazing magic? Well, Chrome didn’t know about magic, but he was really good at figuring out bad stuff with nature.</p><p>Sorcerers were powerful. Sorcerers had solutions that nobody else had.</p><p>If Chrome could become a sorcerer, he wouldn’t be a weak nobody—he might even be able to help. (Help in a way he hadn’t when his parents—)</p><p>Determination. If this could work, he had to try. He wouldn’t sit and do nothing again. Something was better than nothing. He gritted his teeth. All he wanted was for her to be okay.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>My first work in this fandom and my first fic in a loooong time. I have no measure for how good or bad this fic is, so I don't know what to expect, here. Hopefully it is okay. </p><p>There should be, fundamentally, two more parts to this story. Hopefully they will be out in the next several weeks. It is basically done, but, you know--motivation and nerves. </p><p>If you enjoyed it, drop a comment! Thanks for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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